Carolina and I were in a car, headed from Texas to Indiana. We were moving to Indiana, where we had bought a house. I was a bit concerned about the new house because I hadn't even seen it yet. What kind of area was it in? I especially didn't want to live in a predominately black area because I didn't think it would be safe. Carolina pulled out a map of Indiana. Maybe if we looked at place names around the area of the house, we could have some idea of the type of neighborhood; but I couldn't tell much from the map. The latitude, however, was about the same as southern Ohio; so I knew what the weather would be like.

Following us, in a U-haul truck, were the man and woman (probably in their late 20s) who had sold us the house. All Carolina's and my belongings were in the truck. I hadn't even met the people. When we finally stopped, I got out of my car and walked over to the truck. I looked into the cab and could see back into the rear of the truck. We didn't have too much; quite a few vinyl suitcases were among other belongings.

I also learned that Carolina had earlier talked to the man and woman and that Carolina had agreed to take two dogs from them. The couple had seven dogs in the truck, including the two which Carolina had agreed to take. The two dogs we were taking were small short-haired brown dogs. I reached through the truck window and petted them. I was not thrilled by the idea of taking on two new dogs. They weren't particularly pretty. I asked where the dogs had come from and the woman said she had rescued them from an animal shelter. She also said they were both seventeen years old… which meant they would probably not live that much longer. Our pet Dalmatian Picasso was only 3 years old; so he would live much longer than these new dogs. And now I would have to walk three dogs. I didn't like it.

***

Carolina and I were in the new house, walking through the empty rooms. We still needed to turn on all the utilities and get the mail changed. I was already thinking about how long we would live here and how long I would be making house payments, which were over one thousand dollars a month. We might not live here long. The house was plain, nothing to hold us.

We walked outside to look around. A large apartment complex sat right next door. I didn't care to live next to an apartment… too many people.

We walked back in. I heard a noise somewhere in the house. Was someone here? I walked through the house and discovered a hallway which I hadn't seen before. Three small rooms branched mysteriously off the hallway. I hollered for Carolina to come and see them.